---
title: "To Do: Create a “Geneva Convention on the Status of Data”"
summary: |-
  The administration should engage with its trade partners to establish international legal standards for government access to data.
date: "2015-05-09"
issues: ["Privacy", "National Competitiveness"]
content_type: "Knowledge Base Articles"
canonical_url: "https://itif.org/publications/2015/05/09/to-do-create-a-geneva-convention-on-the-status-of-data/"
---

# To Do: Create a “Geneva Convention on the Status of Data”

# Recommendation

The administration should engage with U.S. trade partners to create a “Geneva Convention on the Status of Data.”

# Details

The United States should engage with its trade partners to establish international legal standards for government access to data through a “Geneva Convention on the Status of Data.” This would create a multilateral agreement establishing international rules for transparency, settling questions of jurisdiction, producing better coordination of international law-enforcement requests, and limiting unnecessary access by governments to the data on citizens of other countries. Only by working to establish a global pact can countries hold each other accountable on these issues in the future.

**Keep reading:**

- Daniel Castro and Alan McQuinn, “Beyond the USA Freedom Act: How U.S. Surveillance Still Subverts U.S. Competitiveness” (ITIF, June 2015), [https://itif.org/publications/2015/06/09/beyond-usa-freedom-act-how-us-surveillance-still-subverts-us-competitiveness](https://itif.org/publications/2015/06/09/beyond-usa-freedom-act-how-us-surveillance-still-subverts-us-competitiveness).

---
*Source: Information Technology & Innovation Foundation (ITIF)*
*URL: https://itif.org/publications/2015/05/09/to-do-create-a-geneva-convention-on-the-status-of-data/*